A major winter storm slammed the US Gulf Coast Tuesday, blanketing parts of a region largely unaccustomed to extreme winter weather with record-breaking snowfall.

A 1,000-mile ‘coast-to-coast’ snow blizzard and deadly ice blitz threatens the ‘worst winter storm in a century’. As Winter Storm Enzo paralyses roads, flights and transport networks, forecasters warn there is worse to come.

A powerful and rare winter storm swept across the South on Tuesday, bringing the first-ever Blizzard Warning to the Gulf Coast and blasting communities from Texas to Florida to the Carolinas with record-shattering snow that snarled travel and brought daily life to a halt.